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This will sound funny but I feel like I wouldn’t advise it, this path that I was on. You have moments of pleasure you have to enjoy and appreciate, but it’s grueling.

— Denise McKenzie

Denise McKenzie

In this show we look at how class can play out at work. Each of my guests works in a professional setting - Julie O'Heir in academia, Denise McKenzie in law. But both grew up in blue-collar households, and each has had trouble navigating the white-collar workplace and the attitudes of some of its workforce. When you're a black female working in a majority-white office, the issues multiply.

I also talk to Daniel Laurison, a sociology professor at Swarthmore. He co-authored a study on the 'class ceiling' in Britain. It showed that on average, people in high-status professions who began life in a working-class household earn less than their more privileged peers.